Another Average Day in the Life of Seeley Booth
by tvnut014
Summary: About a not so ordinary day in Booth's life, if you couldn't get that from the title, then I kinda gave it away there...This story is back from an EXTREMELY long hiatus- but it is definitely back, baby! B&B Chaps 4,5,6 are up!
1. Car Rides

**Just Another Average, Ordinary Day in the Life Of Agent Seeley Booth.**

_**The whole idea of this story is to get you, the reader, an idea of what might happen when Booth and Brennan are on their way to a case. It won't be a totally average-day-type scenario, but you never know. ;) I'm also not totally sure if this will expand into a multi-chapter fic as yet. We'll see where it takes me... :D**_

_**Disclaimer: Once again I have to question the existence of this part. I mean SERIOUSLY! I KNOW I DON'T OWN THEM!!! And well you know too otherwise my work would be on FOX. AND well we all know I'm not quite up to that level of writing. Although, I WOULD consider writing when they have their dead spots. If THEY allowed me to view episodes on their website FROM CANADA!!**_

_**Sorry for the rant!!**_

_**First part is from Booth's fellow co-worker... then of course from Booth's POV...**_

_**Chapter 1: Car Rides**_

* * *

He took a breath before allowing himself to knock on the door of Agent Booth's office.

Inside he could see Agent Booth and his 'partner' Dr. Brennan who were deeply discussing something about a case.

Hell, they could have been discussing what they were going to have for lunch, for all he knew.

They were sitting on either side of his desk. Their faces were about an inch apart. A sly smile on each. They could've been in their own little world, the way they were staring at each other.

There was a reason why Charlie always had to give the cases to Booth. No one else had the courage to have to break up, well, whatever _that_ was.

Booth always denied that there was anything going on between the two of them. But Charlie knew better. Normally, if it were anyone else, Charlie would probably confront him about it.

He didn't do this with Booth. He was afraid that Booth might shoot him.

Well, he wasn't _actually_ afraid. There was always a minute possibility that Booth _could_ shoot him.

However, the man _did_ shoot at inanimate objects at a frequent rate. Whenever he got angry and impatient.

It was just best to let this type of situation sort itself out.

It was at this point that Booth looked up from his and Dr. Brennan's conversation to see Charlie standing in the doorway holding a file in his hands.

"Hey Charlie, come on in. I'm just about done here." He got up to put some papers away in the filing cabinet behind him. "It's about money for the draft right? Well, you see-"

"Actually, Agent Booth," Charlie interrupted. "A new case came in for you and Dr. Brennan. Although, now that you mention it-"

"Ah, sorry Charlie," Booth said as he crossed the room in two quick strides and snatched the case file from his colleague's hands. "Business before pleasure. Can't do both, you know how it is."

Booth grabbed his coat from the stand beside the door.

"Come on, Bones. We've got a case. Thanks, Charlie."

He quickly left the office, followed by Brennan, who gave Charlie a short nod of acknowledgment.

_Uh huh_, Charlie thought. He watched the two of them get inside the elevator down the hallway. Booth had his hand at the small of her back. As per usual.

_If Booth wasn't mixing pleasure with business by 'working' with that lady scientist of his, well, that would be like saying Booth didn't owe him money._

_Which he did._

* * *

Booth made it to his car slightly out of breath. He threw the case file he got from Charlie onto the backseat.

He'd been so anxious to get out of the FBI building that he hadn't gotten a good look at the case file. He'd gotten a small look at it on the elevator ride on the way down to the parking lot. That was the fact that the case was in New Jersey

That was as much as he knew and it was as much as he needed to know in order to get them going in the right direction.

Before they had left to investigate the case that Charlie had brought them, Booth was debating something or other with Brennan. He couldn't even remember what it was now. He had been in the middle of a sentence when he saw something move from the corner of his eye on the other side of the window that looked into his office. It had been Charlie. Staring at them like he was... well, looking at something he shouldn't.

_Well, really he shouldn't have been looking in on their private conversation_, Booth thought as he finished his sentence. It was then that he noticed how close they really were.

It was then that he called Charlie in. First, in trying to avoid possible questions about himself and Dr. Brennan, he directed the flow of conversation toward the draft they had going, not meaning for Charlie to latch onto it so quickly.

So he had hurriedly rushed out of his office, followed by Brennan and a knowing look from Charlie. He hated looks like those. They were looks that said, _I know you have a thing for her. Even if she doesn't _I_ do. _He hated those looks even _more _when he knew they were right.

He sighed. All he wanted to do was get to New Jersey and solve this murder. He would figure out these... well, whatever they were later.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Brennan got into the SUV.

"What took you so long?" He demanded.

"Unlike you, I walked to the vehicle instead of running. What is going on Booth? Why-"

"You know what? Never mind that. Get your seatbelt on and let's go."

Brennan barely had done up the buckle, when Booth pealed out of the parking lot and headed for the freeway.

"Okay, where are we going there, Bones?" His eyes were practically glued to the road.

She looked at him. "I thought you said we were going to New Jersey?"

"Bones, when I ask you where we are going, I mean specifically where. Not just the state." She ignored his response and replied with another question.

"Booth, you seem kind of tense. Is something wrong? Have you become a degenerate gambler again?"

"What? No! Where'd you get that idea?" He tore his eyes from the road to look at her for the first time since they had gotten into the vehicle.

"Well, I _was _in the room when you were discussing with Charlie about the fact that you owe him money for a draft of some sort."

"Look, I haven't relapsed-," He air quoted the steering wheel, "-if that's what you're worried about. I just owe him money for the playoffs of the hockey draft that we have going."

"You know, in a way, this 'hockey draft' of yours is a form of gambling."

"Yes, I understand that Bones, but I have it far enough under control that I'm not going to blow my whole savings account on it. Besides, there's a limit on these kinds of things."

"So why are you so tense about giving Charlie his money?"

"Look, I'm not _tense_ about giving Charlie his money, okay? I'm a little pissed off that the guy still owes me money but can't seem to remember it. And until _he_ pays me, _I_ can't pay him." _Good, Seeley. Just distract her from the fact that you're in love with her. Then everything will be fine. She'll think you're gambling again, and want to make you go to rehab, but other than that everything will be fine._

Brennan was quiet for a moment.

"What if I lend you money, Booth? Then you can pay Charlie back, so he could pay you back. Then you could pay me back."

"Thanks for the offer, but no thanks, Bones. I'll talk to Charlie when we get back."

There was a pause.

"Besides Bones, I couldn't borrow money from you."

"Why not?

"Well, for one thing, I wouldn't want to be sucked into that weird paradox of 'money-borrowing' thing that you described about five seconds ago. _And_ I would feel bad for not being able to pay you back right away."

"You don't appear to feel bad about not being able to pay Charlie back right away. How am I any different?"

_How are you different? _He silently shot the question back at her. _Because I'm not in love with Charlie, that's why you're different!_

Instead he replied with, "Well, I don't see Charlie very often at the office very much. Technically, I see you more than I see him."_ And I would prefer to keep it that way, thank you very much.  
_

"Oh, so in a scenario where I would be the beneficiary of our end agreement, I would cause you more grief than he if you were to borrow from me."

"Exactly, Bones. Nailed that one right on the head. You solved this puzzle and were also able to turn it into a poem at the same time. Now can you please tell me where we are going?"

"I'll have to get it from the backseat." She sat there looking at him.

He sighed.

"You _can_ undo your seatbelt, you know. I promise not to arrest you _or_ crash the vehicle while you retrieve the file, okay?"

She looked at him skeptically before removing her seatbelt.

As Brennan stuck her head between the two front seats, Booth caught a whiff of the scent of her shampoo.

_Hmm... strawberries and something else. _Suddenly he was very aware how close in proximity her body was to his. And he _really_ couldn't help noticing her butt.

Still distracted by this observation, he started to drift to the left, almost taking out a Mini-Cooper that was passing him in the next lane.

He quickly regained his senses by the honking of the vehicle beside him and corrected his position in the lane.

Brennan returned to her seat, file in hand, completely oblivious to the fact that he just about _had_ gotten them into an accident.

"Why was the man in the car beside us honking at us and now currently... what _is _he doing?" They both watched as the smaller car passed them in the left lane. The driver was completely furious and making, well, gestures that Booth thought he pretty well deserved. Brennan watched out of curiosity, Booth out of embarrassment and for something to do other than look at her.

"Oh, he's just mad that the rental company gave him such a small car. He really had his heart set on a nice, shiny black SUV back at the airport."

"You don't really know that, do you?"

"Nope."

There was an awkward silence where Brennan was staring at him, confused, while he was mentally kicking himself for not coming up with a better answer than the one he had given her.

He broke the silence.

"What do we have there, Bones?" Booth asked, once again referring to the case file.

"Well, according to the autopsy report, the victim was found with the skull completely backward on the skeleton. Due to the environment, the local authorities moved the victim inside..."

As she rambled off case facts, Booth felt himself relax. _If Bones didn't notice anything was off, then nothing was. _

_It was as simple as that._

Except, he knew, that as long as she was around there was always a risk that he could end up hurting himself.

As well as her.

Ah yes, it was just another day. Someone had died and he was going with his partner to find out 'whodunnit'. All the while trying not to let others know that he was in love with his partner. _Including_ his partner. And on the way there almost killing himself and the woman he loved at the same time.

It was just another average, ordinary day in the life of Agent Seeley Booth.

Could it get any better?

* * *

**_THIS time, instead of me begging for a review, I will reward those who are willingly reviewing a reward. Below I will give you an option of printing off this/these page(s) and having your very own sticker!!! _**

**_Of course this means that you have to print off this story, which is I'm not sure HOW long, and get special printing paper which allows anything you print off to become a sticker... then you can cut out the part that is ACTUALLY meant to be a sticker and stick it on to ANYTHING you'd like. (Ex: some suggestions could be a binder, laptop, a sibling, your pet... you get the drift.)You could also make this story into a sticker, but I mean hey, that's your business, not mine_**

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I reviewed for** tvnut014 **on the story** Just Another Average, Ordinary Day in the Life Of Agent Seeley Booth.**

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**


	2. The Tie in the SUV

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the characters seen here. If I did... well... heh, I don't want to tell you...You'd definitely look at me strangely...lol_**

**_In this chapter, I mention the small town of Rockton, New Jersey. I have no idea if this town exists and if it does and I have offended someone then I formally apologize here. I truly meant no harm. One daythe spell check at home gave me that as an option to correct one of the words I had wrong... so I used it here. Although strangely enough, THIS spell check sees it as wrong._**

**_Chapter 2: The Tie In the SUV_**

* * *

As it turned out, Booth's day _could not,_ in fact, get any better. Almost getting them killed was one of the more pleasant parts of his day. After all when that happened, he _had_ been thinking about her.

Thinking about her was never bad.

They had stopped quickly at one o'clock for food before continuing driving. He had a double cheeseburger, while Brennan had a salad.

Booth winced slightly and shifted in his seat. Eating that burger and then sitting for about an hour afterwards probably wasn't one of his best ideas.

He looked over at his partner who was looking out the window watching the scenery go by.

Good, then maybe she wouldn't notice how… uncomfortable he was.

Man, the salad seemed like a good idea right now.

_She_ looked like she wasn't uncomfortable at all. She looked fine.

Boy, did she ever-

_No, Seeley!_ He cut himself off and focused on the road once more.

He needed to stop thinking like this; otherwise Sweets would _definitely_ have some weight against that threat of breaking them up.

_Way to go, Seel. Way to make it sound as though you are actually in a relationship with the woman._

_You aren't, by the way. Just a little reminder there._

Okay, he was going to have to set a goal or a limit of some kind.

He was not allowed to think about her in _that_ way more than… ten times per day.

He looked over at his partner. The sunlight was causing the red highlights in her hair to stand out. It made a beautiful contrast with her ivory skin.

He turned his attention to the road.

Okay… no more than ten times an hour.

Yes, that was a good compromise. He could fantasize about his partner with less of a chance of killing anybody in the process.

Everybody wins.

His stomach growled. It was scolding him for his choice of lunch. He _really_ should have gone with the salad.

They then passed the sign, telling them that they were approaching the turnoff to the small town where the body had been found.

Good, maybe he could find a bathroom.

He got onto the main road that led to the town. There was no traffic that he could see going into the town. Or out.

_Okay, that's weird. It's two o'clock in the afternoon and not particularly hot out. You would think that they would at least an elderly couple out for a drive._ Something.

They passed the sign claiming that they were in the small town of '_Rockton- Home of the Cougars_!'

Well, at least they had pride in their high school sporting teams. Hopefully there were more people at the games than there were on the streets.

"Booth, this is very odd," Brennan echoed his thoughts. "It seems as though there is no one actually living in this town. Even though there are only over nine hundred people living here, you would think we would see more than one person drive past us. It's almost as though it is a-"

"Ghost town," Booth finished her sentence.

"I wouldn't have quite phrased it that way, but yes. The term 'ghost town' seems to quite aptly describe the situation we are currently observing."

"Hey, look! That must be the local police station." They had just turned onto Main Street where they could see a brown building up ahead on their right. Booth noticed a couple of cars outside the building. "I can see a couple of cruisers in the parking lot."

"Also, we just passed the sign telling us that this is the police station up ahead."

"Right, I knew that… I mean, I meant to say that."

They pulled into the lot and parked.

Brennan got out of the vehicle and closed the door behind her. Booth followed suit and stepped out of the SUV.

He was just about to close the door, when a flash of blue caught his eye from the other side of the parking lot.

No, it couldn't be.

It…it was…

Brennan followed his gaze. "Booth? Isn't that the car with the angry driver we met on the way here?"

Sure enough, it was the blue Mini-Cooper they had just about ran into on the way there. _Correction, the one _he_ had just about ran into. _

"No. Nope. I really don't think so, Bones. That would be a really big coincidence if it were."

"But I thought you didn't believe in coincidences."

"Did I say that? Maybe I did. Well, you'd know! You're the one with the photographic memory." Booth shut the car door and locked it with the press of a button on his keys.

He walked towards her. "Can we go inside, now? I'd kinda like to hear from the sheriff about what happened to our victim instead of standing out here talking with you in a parking lot, debating whether or not we have seen one tiny little car once already today."

Afraid she would take it the wrong way, he added, "Not that I don't mind talking to you, Bones."

"I was going to say that although the car does in fact look like the one we saw earlier today. The license plate seems to have the same- wait." She stopped walking. "You like talking to me?"

"Yes, of course Bones." _Good, he got her off track of the whole Mini-Cooper thing. Now where was his phone?_

"Even when we argue?"

"Yes, of course- why is this so important right now?" He began searching his pockets for his phone. "You know as much as I'd like to discuss this, I just realized that I left my phone in the SUV. Can you go inside and ask for the sheriff already? I'll be right there."

As Brennan went inside, Booth walked back to the vehicle. He looked inside and saw that his phone was sitting on the dashboard.

He sighed in relief. He was afraid that he had left it at the restaurant they had eaten at.

The way things were going he wouldn't have been surprised. He unlocked the door with the button and grabbed his phone from inside. He got back out and was about to close the door to the vehicle, when the Cooper caught his eye again.

Nah, that couldn't be it. Could it? He shook his head.

He locked the door again and was about to walk away when he dropped his keys.

He sighed. _Now he was being clumsy, was he?_

He bent down to get them.

"Gak!"

Pressure tightened around his throat. _What the hell?_

He looked up.

_Oh no._

His tie was caught halfway in the door of the SUV.

He tried tugging at his tie. No good. The tie wasn't budging and… it was making the tie even tighter around his neck. He managed to loosen it a bit.

He looked back down at his keys. They were just slightly out of his reach.

_Okay then Seeley, let's just think this through. Why don't you just use your foot to drag them within reach?_

_Okay, here we go…easy…easy there…_

His foot was slowly pulling the keys toward him.

_Almost there_.

Suddenly, he lost his balance and ended up kicking the keys underneath the vehicle. When he leaned back to catch his balance he had almost strangled himself once more.

He groaned and rubbed his throat. This could _not_ be happening.

_All right, then. Maybe if he could just loosen his tie enough, he would be able to pull it over his head, retrieve his keys, and get his tie back._

He loosened the tie as far as it would go.

_So far so good. As long as it didn't get stuck when he attempted to pull the damn thing over his head, he would be fine._

_He _knew _he should have put the red one on today. _He had gotten the blue one he was currently wearing from Sweets for Christmas. _That boy is in so much trouble when I get back. _

He stopped.

It was stuck.

_Sweets was so going to get it. _

He had gotten it as far as his chin when it had started getting tight. He had tried to pull it up a bit further and it had stopped in his mouth. The tie refused to go past his nose.

He sighed.

There was only one other option.

* * *

Inside the police station, Brennan was getting information out of the sheriff while waiting for Booth to come inside. She swelled a little with pride.

_Her lessons with Sweets must have been working. The sheriff was telling her everything she wanted to know. Booth would be very interested to know about this. _

What she didn't know was that the sheriff was planning to ask her out that evening. He would tell her anything she wanted to know. Especially if she wanted his phone number.

She checked her watch. Booth had been out there almost ten minutes now.

She began to get worried. _What if someone had gotten to him? _Brennan knew Booth could handle himself, but she just wanted to make sure.

She was just about to excuse herself when her phone began to ring.

Good, this would serve as a perfect excuse for her to be able to see if Booth was all right.

"Brennan," she picked up without checking the caller ID.

"Mmph," was the reply. _Funny, it almost sounded like…_

"Booth?" She asked, placing the familiar voice. "Where are you? Why aren't you inside?" She began to walk to the doors that lead to the parking lot.

"Nine eed ou to comph outhide."

"What did you say? Just hang on, the service in here is horrible, I'm going outside." She opened the doors and stepped outside into the parking lot.

"Okay, I'm outside, Booth. Repeat what you said."

Booth became completely incomprehensible due to the noise that was in the parking lot.

"Sorry, Booth. Some man is standing by our SUV, yelling and waving his arms at me. I can't quite hear you."

The man was wearing a dark suit that was quite similar to-

"Wait… Booth? Is that you?"

* * *

Brennan snorted.

He looked at her half surprised and half annoyed.

He was surprised because Temperance Brennan did _not _snort. He was annoyed that she was laughing at him.

His expression softened.

_It was good to see her laugh. She never did that enough. He _loved_ it when she laughed. _

They were still standing outside and he had just finished telling her how he had exactly come into that predicament.

She was still laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it's funny. Can we go inside now? I'd like to ask the sheriff a few questions."

"Actually, he is going to the hospital to show us the body. He said that we could follow him there. He's leaving in about five minutes. I'll go let him know that we'll follow him."

She began laughing at him again. "It's just that, the possibility of that ever happening…" She trailed off trying to catch her breath while walking back toward the police station.

"Wait up, Bones!"

She stopped, a trace of her smile still present on her face. "What is it, Booth? You can easily ask your questions to the sheriff at the hospital. And you don't have to worry about me telling anyone about what happened. I promise not to."

"Okay, sure. That would be great."

She turned around and started walking again. Booth followed.

She stopped.

"Booth what is it?"

"Uh, it's just that…Bones?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind pointing me in the direction of the bathroom?"

* * *

**_I would just like to thank EVERYONE who reviewed!! It so helped me write this chapter... I would also like to thank anteffy1 for their suggestion that I will be using next chapter!! :D Thank you so much!!_**

**_Now as for the rest of you..._**

**_Please review!! I live on them!! Please don't leave me undernourished!! :)_**


	3. Discomfort

_**So **_**sorry for the wait to all of my loyal readers. I feel very, no extremely, bad for this HUGE wait. Real life sucks you know. Math especially. Plus, my computer was being retarded and I almost lost the document. I need a laptop, something that my parents can't kick me off of, and is younger than ten years old. **

**Anyway, here is the third chapter. I'm sorry to say there nothing too extreme in this chapter which leads me to say that I suppose you could consider it to be a filler. Sorry for any disappointment that may arise as a result. PLEASE don't let this discourage you! I still encourage you to read & review of course! : **

**(To: anteffy1: I'm sorry that I didn't add your suggestion in this chapter. I PROMISE, I am using it next chapter. That's right there is a next chapter! lol :D)  
**

**Disclaimer: No. Still not mine. I'm still waiting for the papers to go through to change this situation, however. **

**Chapter Three: Discomfort**

**

* * *

**

Booth came out of the bathroom feeling slightly relieved. The feeling soon passed and turned into one that he had been feeling ever since lunch.

Nausea.

This time it wasn't because of the burger.

Standing in the middle of the Rockton police department's main waiting room, was the sheriff chatting up his partner. Booth could see the giant badge from across the room. The sun was reflecting off of it.

You couldn't have missed it. In fact, it had just about blinded him a little.

Booth had a hunch that the sheriff wanted to find out more than just how Bones came into the field of forensic anthropology.

As he made his way across the room to the spot where they were standing, Booth wondered why that whenever they had a small town case, the men in the town seemed to swarm Brennan like a school of piranhas. It was like they could sense that a woman who was showing signs of being mildly attractive had placed a toe inside the town limits. It was exactly like the time they worked that cannibal case the first year that they were together.

Granted, Bones was more than just mildly attractive. She was stunning, really. He supposed he could understand where these guys were coming from.

But there were perfectly fine looking women here. Ones that weren't his Bones.

He knew that he had gone into protective mode. Or that male-alpha-thing that she always claimed he was. He saw the sheriff lean into her a little. Okay, that was it. That conversation needed to end, _now_.

"Hey Bones, ready to go?" He interrupted, with an innocent expression on his face. "Uh yes, Sheriff Dunning, is it?" He said peering at his badge. "We can go to the hospital now."

The sheriff glared at him, as if to say, _I was in the middle of something here. I wasn't done yet_.

Booth put his hand on the small of Brennan's back and escorted her to the doors leading to the parking lot. He looked back at the officer and gave him a look of his own that said; _I knew that, so what are you going to do about it?_

That moment of intimidation was shot to pieces when an oblivious Brennan asked Booth, "Are you sure you don't need to use the washroom before you leave, Booth?" I also have Imodium in my bag in case you have-," she glanced back at the sheriff. She leaned toward Booth and whispered, "-diarrhea."

Only she wasn't as quiet as she thought she was. The sheriff grinned and his expression lightened considerably when he heard Brennan's remark.

Booth winced. _Ah, yes. Even without a gun, Bones sure knew how to hurt a guy._

"You don't whisper as quietly as you think you do, Bones" Booth said as they stepped out into the parking lot. "Next time just say whatever it is you need to say…normally."

Brennan looked confused. "I was only trying to be considerate towards your feelings Booth. You tend to become overly-sensitive whenever we discuss subjects such as bodily functions or sex."

"Sex! What does sex have to do with anything?" Booth exclaimed, taken aback. He looked behind them. Dunning was grinning away at the sight of Booth's discomfort.

"Nothing. It's just that whenever we talk about sex, you seem to get very uncomfortable at just the mention of the word. You know, Booth sex is very natural. Our bodies are designed for it-"

"Okay, Bones maybe can we not talk about this right now? We can deal with my insecurities later. Next time if you want to talk about something like this," Booth leaned into Brennan. "Make sure Sir-Grin-A-Lot back there doesn't overhear us," he whispered into her ear.

For once she said nothing.

Booth realized that he had made it sound like that he actually _liked_ talking to Bones about sex. Which he did, mind you, but he wasn't totally sure if he was ready for _her_ to know that.

Booth glanced back at the sheriff once more. Man, he wished that he could just shoot that smug expression right off his face. Booth removed his hand from Brennan's back and headed toward the SUV.

He was about to open the drivers' side door, when he noticed that Bones wasn't on the other side. Bewildered, he quickly scanned the parking lot.

There she was, walking away from him, with Dunning. Booth growled slightly and jogged to catch up with them.

"Hey Bones, whatcha doing?" He asked how, he hoped, was nonchalant. Though it probably revealed what he was truly feeling, anxiety. Booth hoped Dunning wouldn't pick up on it.

Dunning looked at him and smirked. He knew and he was enjoying every second of Booth's anxiety filled confusion as to what was going on. The bastard.

They all stopped walking.

"Well," Brennan answered. "While you were in the bathroom-" Dunning snickered. Booth shot him a look over Brennan's head. Confusion flashed across Brennan's face before she continued, "Dunning and I decided that we should carpool to the hospital."

Booth pushed his suit jacket back and placed his hands on his hips. "Okay, so? That's fine. Saving the environment. Carpooling. Great."

Brennan started walking again. Dunning followed. Booth stayed put.

"Wait just a second, Bones. The SUV's back there." He called after her.

"We're using Sheriff Dunning's vehicle," Brennan threw over her shoulder as they kept walking.

Booth caught up to them. "Seriously, Bones. We can't use a police cruiser. They definitely have worse gas mileage than the SUV. They also tend to be so old that we won't even get two blocks before the thing breaks down."

"Actually, Agent Booth." Dunning spoke up. "We'll be using my own personal vehicle." He said while shooting Booth a look.

Just then, Booth realized which direction they were headed in the parking lot.

_Aw, come on_. Booth let out a groan. _Give me a break here._

There it was. The shiny blue Mini-Cooper.

Dunning spoke again. "It's good on fuel and has about a thousand miles on it. I assure you, Agent Booth, my car will get us safely to our destination and back."

"Besides Booth," Bones turned to him and looked at him with those stunning blue eyes of hers. "It was Sheriff Dunning's idea."

_Of course it was. The amazing Dunning to the rescue. He's environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient._

Booth clenched his jaw and glanced back down at Brennan. Surprisingly, she was still looking at him. He thought she would have been staring at Dunning, eyes full of adoration instead.

She looked concerned for him. Like she knew something was bothering him.

_Man, sometimes Bones could really see through a person. Who said that she had bad social skills?_

His heart started hammering in his chest. She opened her mouth to say something.

Thoughts started rushing through his mind. _Did she know? Could she really see that the reason why he was acting so… idiotic and dense was because he was… jealous? He was jealous and worried that she would fall for this… this whatever guy and his fuel-efficiency-_

"If you let Dunning drive, you won't have to worry about the gravel roads putting dents and scratches into the SUV." Brennan said, raising her eyebrow.

He let the breath he was holding, out.

_No, of course she wouldn't know that… that he was jealous. Besides, he wasn't really jealous. He was just… uh, overly protective. Yeah, that whole alpha-male thing was kicking in again. He should really get that thing fixed. It seemed to be acting up a lot lately._

_No, Bones was just trying to get him to let go of his vehicle for a little bit by appealing to the fact that the SUV would be safe and sound in the parking lot, while Dunning's tiny little thing would have to endure all of the bumps and scratches of small town gravel roads._

Booth sighed in defeat. "I still think we should take the SUV. At least then I could drive," He muttered the last part under his breath.

Dunning frowned. "Wait, did you say SUV?"

"Yes, why?" Brennan answered.

Booth had a bad feeling about where the direction of this conversation was going. Chances were, it would lead straight to him. He definitely didn't like the thought of that.

"That's funny, cause this afternoon-" Booth cut Dunning off.

"Fine, I've decided that your car is… great, Dunning," Booth forced the words out through his clenched teeth. "Now, we should get to the hospital before it closes."

Brennan and Dunning looked at him.

"What? Come on, let's go! Time's a wastin'!" Booth tried the passenger side door. "Come on, unlock the doors, Sheriff."

Dunning hastily began searching for his keys. He glanced up and gave Booth a strange look in the process.

_He's probably wondering if I've gone completely crazy._ Booth considered what he had just said to them seconds before. _Hell, sometimes I wonder if I'm crazy myself!_

Brennan was looking at him cautiously. "Booth, you do realize that hospitals don't close?"

"Of course, Bones. That was just a momentary lapse in judgment, which is probably a good thing that I'm not driving. Now let's get this show on the road before our dead friend becomes more decomposed than he already is."

Dunning then triumphantly ended his search for the keys by fishing them out of his jacket pocket. He trotted over to the driver's side and let himself in with the key. He then unlocked the doors from the inside.

Brennan got in the front passenger seat while Booth was forced to get in the backseat behind her.

Booth saw Dunning sitting beside his partner and he clenched is jaw again.

_That… that… _law enforcement officer-Booth stopped himself from using a stronger word- _got to drive and sit beside his partner. While he was cramped in the back. Well, this was just great._

This whole situation was not sitting well with him at all. Or maybe that was the burger.

Booth stuck his head between the front seats. "Hey, Bones. Think you could switch seats with me? It's kinda cramped back here."

"Sorry, Booth," Dunning cut in. "She called 'shot-gun' or should I say 'shot-put' while you were in the bathroom."

_Man, how long had he been in the damn thing? Okay, he wasn't going to leave her with him to go to the bathroom ever again._ He mulled the concept over.

_This was going to be a problem._

"Booth, I know from experience that there is plenty of room in the backseats of these types of vehicles. If you wish, I can switch with you on the way back." Brennan said with finality.

Case closed.

Booth slumped back in his seat.

He wondered how, exactly, Brennan knew from experience about the backseat of a Mini-Cooper-type vehicle.

The thought made him uncomfortable and aroused at the same time.

Dunning leaned over and helped Brennan with her seatbelt.

Booth growled silently in the backseat.

This was going to be a long ride.

* * *

**There's the button. Do what you have to do after the beep: BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPP**


	4. The Hostility in the Hospital

**_First of all I just want to say that I am SO sorry for abandoning this fic! I totally didn't mean to. To all of those who had reviewed to it and subscribed to it I really DID appreciate it. When I was in the middle of writing this I had just lost some steam and took a very, VERY long hiatus. In fact I haven't touched this since May of... well last year! Eep! I haven't really started writing again till recently. So I have written three more chapters for this story- this one being the first. I am currently in the middle of editing the other two._**

When we last left off B&B had a case in Rockton, New Jersey. I'm not sure if small towns in New Jersey have Sheriffs, but this one just so happened to have one. (I'm Canadian, don't hold it against me!) Booth was forced to sit in the back seat of a Mini Cooper- probably not the best vehicle for the type of road that they are driving on, but oh well.

**_Anyway, moving on here._**

**_Disclaimer: Not mine. The writers probably wouldn't be able to handle my mad skills anyway. ;D_**

* * *

The Hostility in the Hospital

After what seemed like an eternity, all three arrived at the hospital.

"Finally," Booth muttered under his breath. _It was a small town._ _Isn't every place in small towns supposed to be within walking distance? _Booth figured that the drive seemed so long because the Sheriff, wanting to talk to Brennan, took the long way to the hospital.

"I wonder if I can arrest him under suspicion of obstructing justice," Booth muttered.

"What was that?" Dunning asked as he pulled into a parking space.

"Oh, nothing. It was nothing," Booth said as he quickly undid his seatbelt. "It probably wouldn't have worked anyway," he grumbled.

Booth needed to get out of this clown car as quickly as possible. His legs were cramping up. _Plenty of room, my ass,_ he thought. As much as he respected Bones, he couldn't help but feel ticked at her for making him sit in the backseat.

The Mini reminded him of the car that he had driven when he and Bones went to England. At least he had been able to sit in the front where there was more leg room._ And he hadn't been forced to watch his partner being hit on. At least, in the _vehicle_ he hadn't_.

Dunning had barely shifted the car into park, when Booth opened the car door and quickly scrambled out of the vehicle.

Dunning turned off the key in the ignition. The engine stopped.

As Booth waited for his partner and the sheriff to get out of the Cooper, he scanned the parking lot as he stretched his back.

There were a total of maybe ten other vehicles in the parking lot. _Not a soul in sight_, Booth found the empty parking lot to be kind of eerie.

"Booth, are you all right?" Brennan asked as she stepped out of the car. "I saw you stretching your back. Is it bothering you again? Would you like me to fix it?" She took a step towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Bones. Thanks." Booth, without thinking, placed his hand over hers. Their eyes met. Booth could see in her eyes that she was concerned for him. Any small trace of resentment that he had held against her for making him sit in the backseat of the clown car quickly disappeared.

The electronic beep of the Cooper being locked broke the trance between Booth and Brennan.

_Right, got to get back to work_, Booth glared at Dunning. "Sheriff," he began. "There are hardly any people around. I'm beginning to think this place is a ghost town." Booth stuck his thumbs in the belt loops of his pants. The stance which Dr. Wyatt had liked to call 'aggressive'.

"Well, I'm afraid, Agent Booth, that many of the townspeople have found out about the murder. It _is_ a small town after all." Dunning said as he headed towards the hospital's main entrance.

"Well, sure, but murder or not, there are usually _some_ people around," Booth placed a hand on the small of Brennan's back once more and they followed Dunning toward the hospital.

"Sheriff Dunning-," Brennan started.

"Please, Dr. Brennan, call me Andrew," Dunning flashed a grin back at her. Booth bristled slightly at the other man.

Looking down at Brennan to see her reaction to the sheriff, Booth was able to catch the flicker of annoyance that had quickly flashed across her features. He had to bite back a shout of gleeful laughter. _Yes! She wasn't buying into this guy's act._ Booth grinned.

"Actually, I'd prefer not to, Sheriff Dunning. I'd like to keep things professional while we work, if you don't mind," Brennan said. Booth had to stop himself from dancing a small jig right there in the parking lot.

She continued, "Was there anyone else besides the police at the crime scene? Citizens, perhaps?"

"Or a reporter?" Booth added. Whoever had leaked the murder to the town must have had a way of spreading the news around quickly.

"No, no. Just the couple who had stumbled across the body. It was a couple of teenagers looking out for a make-out spot." Dunning shrugged. "We told them to not tell anyone about the murder until we officially released the story."

The automatic doors swished open as they stepped into the lobby of the hospital. Booth was relieved to see a couple of nurses standing across the lobby talking to one another._ Good, at least I know that there's _someone_ in this town besides Dunning._

"Have you told the local newspaper anything?" Brennan asked.

"No, we were waiting for you two to show up before we did anything press related. This hasn't been my first murder case, you know." Dunning glared at Booth.

"Right. Well, I'm gonna need those kids' names." Booth pulled out his notepad from his back pocket.

"Sure, it's Danny Glassen and Wendy Shannon." Booth jotted them down quickly. Sure Dunning had told them to stay quiet, but they were teenagers. Chances are the boy would want to impress his friends with the murder and the girl probably had told her friends or at the very least, her mother -who would most likely have a phone tree.

And Booth thought that Dunning wasn't all that intimidating; any order given to a teenager about keeping quiet would no doubt be ignored.

"If you'd just follow me, I'll take you to the morgue." Dunning led them toward the elevator.

"You said that no one has reported anyone missing?" Brennan asked as they waited for the car to arrive.

"No, which is why we're figuring they're not from this town. With a town _this_ small someone would have definitely reported something by now."

The elevator car arrived. Booth realized that all three of them were about to be within very close proximity to one another for the next minute. Booth did_ not_ want Dunning standing next to Brennan, breathing on her, so he made sure he stood between the two of them as they all piled into the elevator.

"Hi," he tried to smile at Dunning, which probably came out more as a grimace. _Guys should never be forced to stand this close to one another in an elevator, _Booth thought. _Plus, he kinda smells._

Finally, they reached the lowest level of the building.

Booth and Brennan followed Dunning down the hall. Dunning pushed open the swinging door on the right. "Here we are."

"Thank you, Sheriff Dunning. We appreciate the help you've given us." Brennan said as she looked at Dunning. Dunning smiled at her.

Booth clenched his jaw.

"No, problem, Dr. Brennan. The faster this case is solved the better. This is the worst murder that I have ever dealt with. I'd just really like to get it behind me."

"Is the coroner around?" Brennan asked. "I'd like to get started as quickly as possible."

"Right, he should be around here somewhere. Hey, Kenny!" Dunning shouted, right into Booth's ear. Booth winced.

"Yeah?" There was a faint shout from the back room.

"The FBI's here!" Dunning yelled again. Booth groaned inwardly._ I am never going to be able to hear out of my ear ever again. _

A man in a white lab coat entered the room. Upon seeing Brennan his face lit up.

"Ah, Dr. Brennan. I'm so glad I'm able to finally meet you. I'm Dr. Linfield. It's really too bad we meet under such unfortunate circumstances." The coroner was of medium height and build with short brown hair and glasses. He looked to be about twenty-six.

"Well, considering both of our professions, if we were to meet it _would_ be after a murder, Dr. Linfield," Brennan corrected him. "This is my partner, Agent Seeley Booth." The two men nodded to one another in acknowledgement.

Brennan continued, "Would you mind showing me the body?"

Her question sounded more like an order. "R-right," Dr. Linfield stuttered. He snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. Dr. Brennan opened her kit and followed suit. "It's just over here on this trolley. Though I have to warn you, this corpse is pretty bad."

"I'm sure it's something that Bones can handle. She's seen some pretty bad ones in her time," Booth commented.

Dr. Linfield lifted the white sheet that had been covering the trolley. _Sure, Bones could handle this corpse, but could he?_ Booth's gag reflexes activated as the stench of the decomposing body hit him.

_No_, Booth stopped himself from vomiting on the floor. _There was no way he was going to throw up in front of the sheriff_. Booth looked over at Dunning and noted with some satisfaction that the other officer was looking a bit green. Then Booth looked at the corpse. The body had bits of flesh still stuck to it. However, the strangest part to it was that the head was on completely backward. What was left of it, anyway. Pieces of the skull were missing.

Brennan pulled out a tape recorder and began to speak into it. "Victim was female, about twenty-four years of age, Caucasian. Time of death appears to be about four to seven days ago according to the rate of decomposition. Possibly less due to animal activity. The head appears to have been turned completely around on the skeleton." She took a closer look at the base of the skull. "It appears that the murderer used some sort of glue to hold the skull to the vertebrates." Brennan pointed a gloved hand at the spot and looked up at Booth. "I'm going to collect samples to send to the Jeffersonian; perhaps Cam and Hodgins may discover something and give us a closer time of death."

"Sure, all the help we can get." Booth nodded to Brennan. He turned to Dunning, "So how's the mail service around here? We're gonna need the samples shipped through express."

Dunning nodded weakly. He opened his mouth to answer but immediately ran for the door instead.

"_Okay_," Booth muttered. He went into the hallway and found the sheriff vomiting into a garbage can.

Dunning stood up and wiped his mouth. Booth approached him, hands in pockets.

"I've seen dead bodies before. And I've had a couple cases where the victims were in pretty bad shape; missing limbs and all that due to animals. But never something like this." Dunning leaned back against the wall. "I mean who would want to do this to another human being?"

Booth shook his head, "That's why we're here."

"I can't believe that you and Dr. Brennan deal with this all of the time." Dunning shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, the dead body part of the job isn't the greatest. The satisfaction of catching the scumbag murderers definitely makes the rotting corpses worth it, though."

Dunning looked at Booth. "So, what are you guys? Are you together?"

"What? Me and Bones?" Booth set his jaw. "No," he forced out. "Just partners."

"Really?" Dunning crossed his arms. "'Cause I definitely got a 'more-than-partners' vibe coming from you two.

"Aha, yeah. Well, you're wrong. We _are_ 'just partners'." Booth said as he headed back toward the swinging door of the morgue. "Platonic feelings. Nothing more, nothing le-"

Booth turned his head to find the door meeting his face.

"Argh!" Booth staggered backward, clutching his nose in pain.

"Oh, uh, Agent Booth," It was Dr. Linfield, the coroner. "Dr. Brennan wanted me to come and get you."

Booth could hear Dunning snickering a couple of feet behind him. "Yeah, I was just coming in to see how things were going." Booth said, his reply muffled by his hands. He then checked them for blood. Nope, they were clean. _Well, at least the door hadn't hit him _that_ hard_.

Dunning was still laughing behind him. Booth shot a look back at him, which caused Dunning to clear his throat. Dr. Linfield stood to the side and held the door open as Booth and Dunning walked past.

"You really need to either put a sign up or get a new door," Booth said to Linfield as he went by. "_Somebody_ could get seriously hurt." Linfield swallowed nervously. "Ah, I'm sorry about that," the younger man said quietly.

As Booth walked into the main area of the morgue, he could see that Brennan was packing up her kit. "Fragments of the skull are missing," Brennan reported. "We're going to have to back to the crime scene so that I might be able to recover some of them."

"Don't you think Angela would be able to get a face with the skull you already have?" Booth asked coming closer to get a better look at the skull. A piece of the skull, right above the left eye socket was missing.

Brennan snapped the kit shut. "Angela's good, but the more I can give her, the more accurate the sketch will be that she puts into the facial recognition program." She peeled off her rubber gloves.

"Right," Booth turned to Dunning. "We're gonna need a lift to the crime scene, Sheriff."

Booth and Brennan followed Dunning to the elevator. Dunning pushed the button to call the elevator car.

"Agent Booth," Dunning began. "Why is it that the FBI's involved in _this_ case?"

"Well, it _is_ an unusual murder. I mean how often is it that you find a corpse with its head on backward?" Booth glanced at Dunning.

"Sure, but usually murders in general would fall under the jurisdiction of the county the murder took place; not the FBI." Dunning crossed his arms and waited for an answer.

"There was a murder about a year ago in Ohio. The victim also had its head on backward. Two unsolved murders in different states and victims with similar circumstances. It's FBI territory." Booth said firmly. Booth turned to Brennan "I'll get Cam to pull up the file from that murder."

The elevator doors opened and all three stepped inside; Booth was in the middle once more. Sure, it was awkward, but it was better than giving Dunning a chance to talk to Brennan.

* * *

**_Hoped you liked it! _**

**_Once again I ask your forgiveness on this. I would even understand if you didn't review. _**

**_But I would sure like it if you did! *Hopeful face*_**

**_Heck! Just scold me for leaving it for so long!_**

**_Please and Thank you!_**


	5. The Problem over the Programme

**_This is the second to the promised three chapters that I have written in compensation for the delay... if you can call it that..._**

**_Disclaimer: No the characters of Bones belong to Hart Hanson-that brilliant man, and of course- FOX (bleh)_**

* * *

The Problem over the Programme

Before they went to the crime scene, Dunning had gone back to the police station so that Booth and Brennan would be able to follow him with the SUV.

"We have some pieces of equipment in the SUV that just can't be substituted. I need to contact Dr. Saroyan back at the Lab, while we're at the crime scene," Brennan had explained to Dunning.

_Plus, your car sucks_, Booth had added silently. "Yeah, we should probably let her know what's going on."

The crime scene was about ten miles out of town and down a gravel road. Eventually, Dunning slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. Booth did the same. Brennan grabbed her kit and the two of them got out of the SUV.

Booth looked around. The area was pretty much all fields except for a couple patches of trees that grew adjacent to the road.

"If you'll just follow me, the spot where the kids found her is just down this hill." Brennan started to follow Dunning into the ditch, wading through the tall grass.

"Hold on," Booth called out. Dunning and Brennan waited as Booth knelt down to tuck his pants into his socks. Brennan had changed into a suit which covered her normal clothes and tucked into her shoes. Dunning wore boots. Booth didn't feel like getting any creepy-crawlies up his leg.

"Nice socks," Dunning commented. Booth was wearing a pair of blue and green stripped socks.

"Thanks," Booth said dryly.

Booth and Brennan followed Dunning toward the nearest patch of trees. Eventually, all three reached a clearing.

"Someone sure put some effort in trying to get rid of the body," Booth commented.

"That's what I was thinking," Dunning nodded to Booth.

"The murderer had to have gotten out of their vehicle and walk with the body to this spot," Booth said, thinking aloud.

Brennan put on a pair of rubber gloves. "I think I can see a piece of the skull over here."

All three spent the next hour searching for pieces of the victim's skull.

At the end of the hour, Booth stood up and stretched his back, "Well, I haven't found anything else."

"Me either," said Dunning.

"Other pieces of the skull could have been taken by animals," Brennan observed. "I want to set up communications with the Jeffersonian."

"Set up communications?" Dunning repeated.

"A web chat through computers," Brennan explained. "Via satellite."

"Nice," Dunning said, impressed.

They got back to the SUV. Brennan opened up the back of the vehicle and pulled out her laptop. Soon they were calling the Jeffersonian.

As they were waiting for someone to answer, Dunning said, "I should get back to the police station. Make sure everything is okay."

"Okay," Booth and Brennan said together. Booth's response sounded much happier about it than Brennan's did.

Dunning glanced up at Booth, "Dr. Brennan, I'm assuming you two can get back to town?"

"I believe so," Brennan began to walk with Dunning to his car. Booth was about to follow when a voice from the computer stopped him.

"Hey Booth, how's the case going?" Cam asked.

"Not bad. Bones has some samples to send you and Hodgins so you guys can give us a closer time of death."Booth said distractedly. He looked up just in time to see Brennan laughing at something Dunning said. Booth growled.

"Booth... did you just growl?" Cam asked, surprised. "Where's Dr. Brennan?"

"Talking to the sheriff." Booth gritted his teeth and looked back down at the screen. "You should really be here Cam. Then you wouldn't have to deal with this Dunning guy. He's a real piece of work!"

"Ah," Cam realized what was going on, "And by piece of work, you mean the fact that he's talking to Dr. Brennan."

"No, I'd be okay with him just _talking_ to Bones. By 'piece of work', I mean that he's been hitting on her 24/7. I mean at least wait until we're done the case."

"Somehow, even then I don't think you'd be okay with Sheriff Dunning _was_ just talking to her." Cam raised an eyebrow. "Has Dr. Brennan _told_ you she's been uncomfortable by his attention?"

"Well, not exactly."

"Uh huh," Booth could see over the webcam that Cam had crossed her arms.

"I just have a bad feeling about this guy."

"And jealousy rears its ugly head once more," Cam smiled slightly.

"Look, Cam, I am _not_ jealous of Dunning." Booth crossed his arms.

"You know, Dr. Wyatt told me that crossed arms could mean denial," Booth quickly let his arms fall to his sides. Cam smirked.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Booth put his hands in his pockets. Cam opened her mouth. "I know what Dr. Wyatt said about hands being in pockets!" He yelled at the screen.

"Hello there, Dr. Brennan," Cam said instead.

Brennan came to stand beside Booth. "Hi, Cam," She nodded to the screen. "What did Dr. Wyatt say about someone's hands being in their pockets?" She asked Booth.

Booth ruffled his hair in embarrassment. "Ah-"

Cam cut in "We were just talking about Sheriff Dunning. Tell me Dr. Brennan, what's your take on him?"

Booth turned to Brennan, also interested in what her response would be.

"Sheriff Dunning takes his job very seriously," was all she said.

"Right, 'cause he was so _professional_, he decided to ask you out while we were working." Booth air-quoted the word 'professional'.

Cam's eyebrows shot up.

"What? He did not ask me out Booth," Brennan protested. "I simply told him that I'd rather not use first names while we were focusing on the case."

"Right," Cam nodded slowly. Her eyes were wide after watching the encounter. "So, Dr. Brennan, Booth said that you collected some samples for me and Hodgins?"

"Right, as soon as we pack up here we are going to the post office to send them to you.." Brennan began to unzip her jumpsuit.

"So you want us to clarify time of death?" Cam asked.

"That and I would also like Hodgins to identify what type of glue I found on the skeleton. Perhaps we'll be able to discover where the murderer is from."

"You found glue on the body?" Cam looked puzzled.

"You'll understand once you see the pictures, Cam," Booth said. "It's definitely one of the weirder cases we've had in a while."

"After we've sent the samples, we're going to go back to the hospital at the morgue so I can add in the missing pieces of the skull. Then I'll send Angela pictures of the skull along with the pictures of the rest of the body. Then she can run a sketch through facial recognition." Brennan said as she put the jumpsuit into the back of the SUV.

"Sounds like a plan. I'm sure Hodgins will be happy to hear that he'll have something to do. He's been driving everyone nuts with his experiments," Cam sighed.

"And when you say 'everyone', I'm assuming you've been a victim of one of them?" Booth said, grinning.

Cam didn't look impressed. "Try _all_ of them. Oh, and Booth?"

"Yeah?"

"Your problem will most likely sort itself out in the end." Cam said with a meaningful look.

"Problem?" Brennan asked. She turned to Booth. "What sort of problem do you have?"

Cam piped up from the computer. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed Dr. Brennan, Booth seems to be having a problem with the head of law enforcement there."

Booth glared at Cam. "Good-bye, Cam," he said closing the laptop, quickly cutting off whatever response Cam might have had.

"You probably shouldn't close the laptop when we still have a program running on it," Brennan said as she pointed to the laptop.

"You're right, sorry," Booth opened up the laptop again and was relieved to see that the window they had been talking to Cam through was disconnected.

Brennan began to shut down the computer. "Why did Cam say that you have a problem with Sheriff Dunning?"

"Oh, I don't know, Bones," Booth shrugged uncomfortably. "Maybe, it's because I just don't find Dunning to be all that professional that's all."

"Because he wanted me to call him, Andrew?" Brennan looked at him skeptically.

_No, but he's obviously interested in you and I can't understand why he can't seem to keep it in his pants._

Instead, Booth said, "How _has_ Dunning proven himself to be professional?"

"Well, he was nice enough to show us the way to the morgue and show us where the body was found." She put the computer into its case.

"Uh huh," Booth rolled his eyes as Brennan turned away.

"And, he offered for us to stay at his place tonight."

"What?" Booth practically exploded. "How is _that_ being professional?" Brennan moved along the side of the SUV, heading for the passenger door. Booth went along the other side to the driver's side and opened the door.

"What exactly," Booth got into the vehicle, "Is the reasoning behind that offer?"

"Dunning said that the Riverside Motel wasn't the best place to stay at and that if we slept at his house we would be well rested . More so than if we stayed at the motel." Brennan closed the door.

"Right, and the fact that he likes you has nothing to do with it," Booth shook his head.

"Booth, if I _had_ accepted his offer, I knew I'd be okay there because I know you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me."

Booth looked into her blue eyes and felt his resolve weaken. "Look, just until I get a better read on this guy, can we stay at the motel?"

"I knew you'd say something like that. That's why I didn't take his offer." Brennan looked away to do up her seatbelt.

"You knew I'd say something like that?" Booth asked curiously.

"Yes, you're very protective, you know," Brennan said in a matter-of -fact tone of voice. "Besides, you do like wasting the FBI's money."

"Yeah, well, there are a lot of nut jobs out there. Someone has to be able to sniff 'em out." Booth did up his own seatbelt and started the vehicle. "And if there was a better hotel in this little town we also could have checked into, we would have wasted the FBI's money a little _better_."

"Dunning's offer _is_ still open. I have his number. I could call him." Brennan began to reach in her pocket for her phone.

"Of course you would have his number," Booth muttered.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, let's just get you to the post office and back then to the morgue, it's already four o'clock." Booth put the SUV into drive and headed back toward town.

"Then we'll be going to the motel?" Brennan asked. Booth couldn't help but hearing a tinge of disappointment in her voice. He also couldn't help feel but disappointed himself for hearing it in her voice in the first place.

"Yeah, to the motel."

* * *

**_R&R Please! With a side of David Boreanaz? TJ Thyne??? (That man has amazing eyes! Not even kidding!)_**


	6. Ungentlemanly

**_The third of the three that I have written. Now, don't worry there will be more to come. That is if you all are still interested. However, as school is starting up again after the Christmas break AND exams are coming up it may be awhile. Not as long as it was before! I promise! _**

**_Cross my heart and swear to never watch Bones again. A serious allegation, I realize that. That is why I intend to keep it._**

**_Disclaimer: Nope, not mine!_**

* * *

Un-gentlemanly

After they had been to the post office, to the morgue, and had sent off the pictures to Angela, the two of them went to a Chinese place at about eight o'clock. They had stayed there for about an hour then they went to the motel.

The motel was run down, but as far as Booth could tell, the place wasn't in a bad part of the town. Booth had pulled into a parking spot and went inside. He asked for a room and was given a card key. He went back to the SUV and the two of them were outside of their room within minutes.

"Umph," Booth grunted as he set down some of the luggage to reach for the key in his pocket. "Why did you bring so much stuff?"

"It's not my fault, most of it is forensic equipment."

"Sure, it is, Bones."

"What? It is!"

Booth swiped the card key through the door. There was a quiet 'beep' and soon the two of them were let inside the motel room.

"Well, here we are," Booth said. He dumped his bags on the floor and went to the window to see what the view was like. Booth pushed his jacket back with his hands and rested them on his hips. The motel wasn't _that_bad. Rockton didn't actually have a hotel so the Riverside View Motel was the next best thing. Besides, _anything_ would be better than sleeping at Dunning's place. Even the slightly run-down motel.

The officer had enough nerve to offer _his_ place to sleep at. He had said that the motel wasn't the best place to stay at.

_Hah, fat chance_, Booth thought, _there was no way on this earth that he would _ever_ let Dunning be under the same roof with Bones while she was sleeping. This motel would be doable. Security here is _just_ fine. I'll just be sleeping with my gun under my pillow, that's all._ Booth nodded his head slightly._ Yeah, we'll be fine. _

Then Booth actually took in the view outside the window. Their window looked out onto a field which appeared to have previously been a trailer park. There were beer cans strewn across the abandoned lot. A small, muddy stream was trickling by. _Okay, 'Riverview' must be ironic. _Taking the entire scene in again, he thought, _I never _did_ understand irony._

"Ah, Booth?" He heard Brennan call from behind him.

"Yeah?" Booth turned away from the window. Brennan was looking at something that was around the corner, just out of Booth's sight.

"What is it?" Booth took three steps to stand beside her.

Brennan looked up at him, "We may have a problem." She looked back at the wall where the beds were supposed to be.

"What are you talking-" Booth turned his head and instead of two beds, he found one. "Oh," he said softly, his eyes wide in surprise.

"I'll call the front desk to see if they have another room available to us," Brennan volunteered. She sat on the bed and picked up the phone.

_Yeah, specifically one with _two_ beds, _Booth thought. He shook his head in frustration. _Could this day possibly get any worse_? When he talked to the guy at the front desk, he, first of all, had asked for two separate rooms. The guy said that they only had one room available; fortunately this one contained two beds. Booth had accepted.

_Maybe he meant there was a pull-out couch. _Booth went over to the couch and pulled off the cushions. _Nope, the couch was just a couch._ Booth sighed.

Brennan hung up the phone. "The man at the front said that there wasn't anything else. We could always just ask for a cot."

Booth shuddered at the thought of what a motel cot would look like. "Nah, that's okay, I'll just sleep on the couch here. You can take the bed."

Brennan stood up. "Booth, I couldn't possibly let you sleep on the couch. Your back would bother you in the morning."

"Well, there's no way I'm letting _you_ sleep on this thing. If you don't have back problems already, you would for sure by sleeping on it." Booth crossed his arms. "And don't even think about ordering a cot."

"I wasn't planning on it. The hygiene of a cot in a motel like this would be questionable." Brennan walked past Booth and picked up her suitcase and moved it to the bed. "This is why I am going to use the sleeping bag I brought and use it on the floor."

Booth began to protest. "No, no way! It would be un-gentlemanly of me to even _think_ about you doing that. If anyone is sleeping on the floor it should be me." Booth walked to where she was laying out her clothes on the bed.

"Booth, you can't do that! What about your back?" Brennan stood up and met Booth's eyes defiantly.

Suddenly, Booth realized how close they were standing to each other. Like all of their arguments, Booth noticed that they were both breathing slightly harder.

Booth swallowed nervously. "Right," he said as he looked away and took a step back. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Brennan did likewise. "So, I guess we have a tie. What do you want to do?" he looked back at her.

"What I prefer we do is that you let me sleep on the floor-" Brennan began.

"Which is never going to happen," Booth cut her off.

"Because you think that it would be 'un-gentlemanly'." Brennan crossed her arms.

"You picked up on that, huh?" Booth sheepishly grinned. Brennan smiled slightly in return. _Bones looks so pretty when she smiles. _He cleared his throat, "Well, that's my reasoning."

"I don't actually think that being 'un-gentlemanly' is an actual reason." Brennan turned back to her suitcase.

"But as you've noticed before," Booth went to stand beside Brennan once more. He pushed back his suit jacket with his right hand, "I have an entirely different way of evaluating things."

Brennan straightened and glanced at him, "That's true."

"Now, that we have that settled, we still have the problem about where we're going to sleep," Booth sighed.

"I may have a solution," she squared her shoulders so that she faced him completely.

"I'm listening."

"What if we share the bed we have?" Brennan raised an eyebrow. "That should solve our problem."

Booth's mouth went dry. "Sh-share the bed?" he asked. Sharing a bed with his partner. How many times had he fantasized that moment? Too many to count, only, he had imagined it would be under different circumstances.

"No, no way, that would definitely be- that would be-" Booth stuttered trying to find a reason that wouldn't reveal the feelings he had for her.

"Un-gentlemanly?" Brennan supplied for him.

_I was going to say 'inappropriate,' but sure, let's go with that_. "Yeah," Booth swallowed and sat down on the bed, beside Brennan's suitcase.

"Well, if you're uncomfortable with that arrangement, I'm sure Andrew's offer is still open." Brennan placed a hand on her hip, impatient.

"No!" Booth stood up. _That was the _last_ thing he wanted_. "No," he said again, with less enthusiasm than before. "We can share... the bed. Besides, we wouldn't want to 'inconvenience' Dunning." He paused. "Wait-did you say _Andrew's _offer?"

"Well, yes. After all he _did_ say I could call him that." Booth swore that his partner was beginning to look a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but you said that you thought it was _unprofessional_." Booth was getting concerned._ Did Bones actually _like_ this guy?_

"Actually, I said that I'd like to keep things professional during work. Technically, we're not working right now." She took an armful of clothes from her bed and walked over to the bureau so that her back was turned to Booth.

Booth felt his heart drop. _She liked him._Booth sunk to the bed once more. The bedsprings squeaked under his weight.

Silence filled the room. The only noise came from Brennan as she opened and closed the drawers on the bureau.

_Look, man. You can ask her, make sure that she likes him, or just let it happen. It's her life and if she wants to try out this Dunning guy, she can. She looks at _you_ as her partner and her friend. That's _all_ she wants to find in you. She trusts you to stay that way. You don't want to betray her or her trust by asking _more_ from her. And if it doesn't work out with this Dunning guy, she'll turn to you for comforting. _

_Isn't that enough? Just being there for her?_

_For now. _

Booth sighed.

"Do you need help with putting anything away?" he asked, trying to muster up some enthusiasm.

"No, I should be okay," Brennan turned back to face him. She leaned back against the bureau. She looked like she wanted to ask him something. Booth met her eyes briefly then looked at the wall.

"What is it, Bones?" he asked, eyes still on the wall.

"I was wondering-," she began. Booth could hear her muffled steps approach him on the carpet, "Which side of the bed you wanted."

Booth looked up at her in surprise. His mouth was hanging somewhat open. "Ah-" was the only response he could come up with.

"I prefer to be on the side closest to the bathroom," she went on.

"I-yeah, sure," Booth nodded.

"Do you mind if I use the bathroom?" Brennan asked, pointing in the direction.

Booth shook his head, "No, you go ahead. It's all yours." He smiled nervously. He watched her go into the bathroom and the door click shut behind her.

Booth leaned back on the bed with his hands knotted behind his head. He stared at the ceiling and sighed.

_Well, it could be worse, _Booth thought. _Sure, Bones may like Dunning. But he isn't the one sleeping with her tonight_, a grin slowly spread across his face. _So to speak._

The toilet flushed and Brennan opened the door to find Booth grinning away.

"What's so funny?" She asked as she placed a hand on the doorway.

Booth smirked and shook his head, "You said you brought a sleeping bag?" he sat up on the bed.

"Yes, why?" Brennan looked suspicious.

"Why would you think you needed a sleeping bag?"

"For situations like this, of course."

"You knew something like this would happen? Don't you trust me?" Booth pretended to be offended.

Brennan opened her mouth, "Of course I trust you."

Booth sat up. "Then why'd you bring it?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I told you..."

As they slid into another one of their arguments, Booth found that he couldn't be happier to be standing in a crappy motel room, after one of the worst days of work he had ever been through, with his partner arguing about something that didn't really matter.

* * *

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